Many years ago, Venice was picked as a must go place and was reserved for a honeymoon apparently.
I am running out of honeymoon candidates. It’s a good thing.
Train:Frecciarossa 9733 date 15/10/2017
Departure: Milano Centrale (time: 14:45); Arrival: Venezia S. Lucia (time: 17:10)
We arrived at 510pm and walked the 200 meters to the hotel.
Our initial plan was to stay at Venezia Maestre on the mainland for costs purposes but a last minute review of that decision caused us to cancel that booking and book at Venezia S Lucia, on Venezia Island itself.
Sunset was at 630pm and it was not likely possible that we can make it to Piazza San Marco to watch the sunset.
Ponte degli Scalzi.
We made our way, against a torrent stream of tourist heading back.
I felt like salmon against the tide.
Dusk was upon us as we arrived at Piazza San Marco.
We were getting hungry.
Time to head back. The Rialto bridge on our way back.
Back near our hotel. We would sit at the steps just outside the train station and enjoy a gelato.
Tomorrow’s going to be a repeat.
After breakfast, we headed out for the official day walk.
Were we going to ride the gondolas today? The price was a bit steep.
When you reach the Rialto Bridge, you know you are not too far from San Marco’s square.
Most of the canals were quiet in the early morning.
The icon of the square : Campanile.
We learned that this was a reconstruction as the original collapsed in 1902.
Standing at 98.6 meters , it offers a perfect view of Venezia for 8 Euros.
The lines were short; it is the only reason why we went up.
Doge’s Palace.
The Bridge of Sighs, your last view of the sea and sky before you head to prison on the right. Everyone sighs.
So do we ride the gondolas?
80 Euros for a 20 minute ride was steep.
But it’s the only time we were going to be in Venice.
Let’s go for it.
We ended up topping up to go for the longer ride that costs 120 Euros. Go big or go home!!
The gondolier just finished a ride with Malaysians and was surprised to hear that we were Malaysians too.
A very private and probably a must do in Venice, I guess.
I would probably have regretted not taking the ride.
Our 120 Euro ride would take us to see Marco Polo’s House.
And also Casanova’s House.
After our gondola ride, we were done and it was time for lunch.
We ate under The Rialto Bridge a few splashes away from the canal.
This meal was the best meal in Italy for me albeit salty!
My lobster pasta would cost 22 Euros.
We passed by the market.
We did make a few wrong turns that ended up in dead ends.
We were back near our hotel.
I would leave my camera as we explored Venice in the evening nearby. Tomorrow morning is an 725am train ride to Firenze to head to Pisa for a 4 hour pitstop before continuing to Roma.
